Help Him When He is Hurting
by thatflyingbrunette
Summary: Max chooses Dylan instead of Fang, and Fang is heartbroken and crushed. Dylan decides to taunt Fang and makes him feel even worse. But soon Dylan learns that Fang is a person with feelings too, and he begins to understand their differences, especially when Dylan learns something secret and highly personal about Fang. Perhaps they are on the road to a unexpected friendship.


**Hey guys! I'm trying something a little different, and this plot line has been bothering me for a while, so I decided to throw it together into a little story! I don't think there are enough stories about Fang and Dylan just interacting and trying to be friends, so I wrote this oneshot. Hope you enjoy! **

Fang's POV

It's been three days. Three days since Max broke up with me in front of the entire Flock, leaving me humiliated and heartbroken. Memories flash through my mind, most that I'd rather forget. Max and I yelling at each other when I confronted her that night, every word tearing me down and increasing the distance between us. The stupid smirk Dylan had on his face when he realized he won, that after all these years I stayed she still picked him over me. One mistake is all I made, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. Why did I leave? Why didn't I stay and ignore everybody telling me we would be better off, stay and not leave the love of my life? Stupid. I'm such an idiot.

I turn onto my side, and my stomach rumbles. I skipped dinner and lunch after having the most awkward breakfast with the Flock I could possibly conceive of. Max and Dylan are apparently not uncomfortable with PDA, wherever they please. Even though I'm positive they knew I was right there. Really Max? Way to make me feel even worse about myself. I couldn't even finish my food, I was so disgusted.

I roll out of my bed, my muscles stiff and sore. As I walk towards my door, I wonder if I look as bad as I feel. I make my way to the fridge and pull out a bottle of water, and then get a bag of chips from the pantry. I'm about to sit down when I hear a shuffling of feet coming towards the kitchen. I look up warily, and then guess who I'm lucky enough to see at 3 AM? Yep, you guessed it. Dylan.

I groan inwardly and try to pretend like I don't see him, casually picking up my chips and water bottle like I'm about to head back to my room.

"Fang! Fancy seeing you here." He smirks and walks right up to me, getting close enough to block off quick escape routes.

I avert my eyes, totally not in the mood for him to rub my loss in my face. "Whatever." I try to walk around him, but he puts his hands up against the wall by my shoulders, boxing me in. I look at him angrily, "Leave me alone." I snap.

"But Fang," he drawls, "We haven't even chatted yet." He grins, and could've looked innocent if not for the glint in his eyes, and the slight curve of his mouth.

"Maybe I don't want to _chat _with you." I respond. I go over possible scenarios in my head. If I absolutely need to, I can just sock him in his perfect face. How I'd love to do that right now…

He ignores my comment, and continues on like I hadn't spoken. "So what are you doing up in the middle of the night, Fangie? Couldn't sleep?" I cringe at his mocking tone and stupid nickname.

"I was hungry," I mutter. Maybe if I give him want he wants, he'll leave me alone. But I know what he wants; he wants to irritate me until I snap, or say something I shouldn't. He couldn't care less about my actual answers.

"Oh is that so?" He pouts and leans in closer, knowing he's making me uncomfortable. This close I can see the spots of green in his turquoise eyes, and I think about my plain, ordinary black ones. No wonder Max likes his better. I swallow and try to keep my face impassive.

"I noticed you missed dinner." He paused and then thoughtfully adds, "And lunch. I guess you didn't enjoy breakfast all that much…" He smirks and I see images of Max and him kissing, holding hands under the table, all the things she and I used to do. I feel a flare of anger course through me, and I shove Dylan hard. "Shut up." I say savagely.

He laughs and throws his hands up in mock surrender. "Sorry Fang, I didn't realize how easy it is to get under your skin." He looks at me speculatively, and off handedly remarks, "I guess you're not the 'emotionless rock' anymore."

I feel my hands clench by my sides, but I can't think of anything to respond to that. I've never been very good with words. Just another thing better about Dylan than me. I try with all my might to control my emotions and my breathing, and then I walk past Dylan without a word. I keep my eyes focused on my room, afraid Dylan isn't going to let me go without another snarky comment.

"Hey Fang, just one more thing I need to say to you." I can hear the cocky tone of his voice, and I force myself to keep walking. "The shadows under your eyes are pretty noticeable; I guess you're not coping very well with the break up." Every muscle in my body tenses up, and I feel my pace slow down. "It must be a new feeling for you to be the heartbroken instead of the heartbreaker."

That was just too much. He acts like he knows me, but he doesn't know why I did what I did. It hurt every bit as much to leave Max as it did for her to leave me, except the difference is I didn't throw a replacement in her face; I wasn't ever happy with someone else. I spin around and what happens next is a blur. I feel my fist make contact with his nose, and it immediately starts gushing out blood. Maybe I broke it. I don't really care. Then I kick him fiercely in the stomach, and when he doubles over I knee him in the groin. He hits the ground groaning, and I hear doors opening down the hall. The entire Flock immediately comes rushing out of their rooms, then crowds around the little scene I made in the kitchen.

"What the heck happened here?" Max sounds pissed and none too pleased to wake up at 3:00 in the morning to see her boyfriend beat up by her ex. Dylan slowly sits up, his hand pressed to his face to stop the bleeding from his nose. I see Nudge press her hand over her mouth in shock, and I steal another glance at Dylan. The blood trailing down his face does have a kind of gory effect; head wounds always look worse than they actually are.

Of course I know what it looks like; I'm standing here uninjured above Max's new boyfriend who's practically in the fetal position on the ground. I look like the typical jealous, obsessive ex boyfriend who came and beat up on the new and improved stand-in.

"It's not what it looks like." I say, but my voice sounds weak to my own ears. I'm about to say more, but one look at Max and my words stick in my throat. She looks angry and almost disappointed in me, like I am a child that she expected to know how to behave himself.

"It's not? Well you have a lot of explaining to do on why exactly Dylan is laying on the ground with a broken nose!"Her voice elevates in pitch as she speaks, and soon enough she is yelling at me. "And you can clean up the lovely blood stain in the carpet tomorrow morning!" I can feel the rest of the Flock staring at us, probably wondering how Max and I ended up like this, always on the brink of a fight. I flash back to three nights ago, when we both let our emotions out of hand, our words like knifes, scars that won't ever go away. I am determined not to let that happen again.

"I didn't-"

"Dylan provoked it, Max." Angel's quiet voice interrupts me, and I can feel the tension in the air. I see Max calm down slightly, but she won't look at me.

"I don't care." She says, and then kneels down next to Dylan, gently helping him up. I know it sounds stupid, but the concern in her eyes makes me feel sick. He deserved every blow I gave him.

So I walk back to my room while the commotion dies down behind me. I get there and without consciously meaning to, I look in the mirror and paw at the bags under my eyes. I don't really look like a lonely loser, do I? Because that's what I feel like. I strip off my shirt and sweatpants and lay down in bed with just my boxers. Then I reach under my bed and pull out a box, secret and personal and I would die if anyone found out about it. It's full of photos and little tokens of good memories between me and Max. I pick out my favorite photo and stare at it longingly with a surprising amount of regret, and I don't fall asleep until the early rays of light hit my window.

Dylan POV:

I wake up in the morning next to Max in her bed, still feeling sore from last night. I think about what happened, and I know full well that I started it, that Fang didn't want a fight or anything to do with me. I think back to his reactions, the way he wouldn't look at me in the eyes, and couldn't exactly find the right words to say. For the first time ever, he looked kind of vulnerable. I'd always thought of him as untouchable, indestructible. He was the strong and silent type, and secretly I used to look up to him. I saw how much Max loved him and I quietly copied his actions. I can't help but feel smug though, because I did it even better than he did. Me, the newbie, beat Fang and got Max. And I've never been happier.

But I think back to what happened, and honestly, I feel kind of bad. I visualize the way his voice shook when he told me to shut up after I taunted him about Max. I remember the way he stood completely still and stared at Max as she yelled at him, like he didn't know what to do, and was scared of messing up again. But that was my fault, and I let him take the blame. Finally I realize how much he needs Max to function, to be himself. He's more than competition for something we both want; he's an actual human being who has his own individual reasons for wanting her.

When Max chose me over him, I took more than just his girlfriend. I stole his best friend, his high status as the Flock's second in command, and his pride. Everything he'd ever worked for in their relationship is gone. And I still teased him last night, putting salt in open wounds and targeting his sorest spots.

I know what I have to do. Silently, I crawl out of bed, careful to not wake Max. I run a hand through my hair and look in the mirror, staring at my reflection to build up courage. Taking a deep breath I walk out of my room and towards my destination: Fang's room.

I linger at his doorway, wondering exactly what I am going to say. I know for a fact he won't want to see me, especially this early in the morning. Heck, he'll probably be asleep and disrupting his slumber definitely won't give me brownie points. I'm about to back down when an image of the lost look in Fang's eyes flashes through my mind. No. I have to do this.

I open the door a crack, and peer in. His room is dark, the blinds drawn and the black walls casting shadows everywhere. I see him lying on top of the ebony comforters on his bed, and I walk a little closer to him. I stand about a foot away, and I gaze at his sleeping figure solemnly. His face seems a lot less guarded and relaxed, making him look defenseless and susceptible. He has his shirt and pants off, dressed only in black boxers. I feel like I'm invading his privacy, but the knowledge that we are both completely straight and love the same girl reassures me a little bit.

I contemplate waking him and giving him a full sincere apology about last night, but am distracted by a small rectangle in his clenched hand pressed against his bare chest. It looks almost like a-photograph? Without thinking, I gently detangle it from his hand. He stirs slightly and I freeze, but he doesn't wake. I scan the picture and my stomach drops to my knees.

It's a photo-taken by Angel, no doubt- of him and Max. They are pressed against each other, and his arms are wrapped tightly around her waist. Her hands are on his chest, his back pressed against a wall. Obviously it is a private moment, unbeknownst to them that they have an audience. But the most striking thing about the photo is the way they are looking into each other's eyes, full of love and intensity and longing. The light is hitting them just right, so it appears that their eyes are shining, and Fang has his famous half smirk on his face as he's looking down at her. You can tell they're about to kiss, the way she is slightly on her toes and smiling up at him, and his head is tilted down to meet her in the middle.

I feel my grip loosen on the photograph, and I feel slightly lightheaded. Three feelings rush through me at once. The first, I feel disgusted and mad at Fang for having such a thing, yet I also feel fear because I don't think Max could ever look at me the same way that she is looking at him. The second is something I wish I didn't think of, wish it never crossed my mind. I think that this picture could be the final ingredient to Fang's destruction, of utter mortification if I ever showed it to the Flock, or Max. Not the photo itself, but what it represented. Fang has it cradled to his chest as he sleeps, if anyone else found out, he could be the laughing stock for weeks.

Then the third feeling comes, solidifying in my mind, and I know what it is. Sympathy. He must've kept this picture and possibly others because he misses Max, misses what used to be. I got extremely lucky to have someone like Max, and I decide to not ever make Fang feel worse than he already feels. So I don't wake him up, I just lightly place the sentimental photograph back under his hand and let him sleep. He won't forgive me if I straight up apologize, so I decide I will slowly make it up to him by being nice, helping him out. Knowing him, he'll be downright suspicious at first, but I hope that maybe one day Fang and I will be friends, and bring harmony to the Flock.

With the picture and my new resolution fresh in my mind, I whisk out of Fang's room and head to the kitchen where I perform my first good deed: I clean up the blood stain out of the carpet (quite laborious actually) and save Fang from having to do the dirty work. When Max wakes up, I will also tell her the true details of what happened last night, make sure I take all the blame, and Fang receives the forgiveness he desires.

The forgiveness he _needs_.

**So guys I was wondering if you think I should continue this and make it into a series of events? Perhaps it'll even end in Fax 3 Please review and give me your input, thanks! **


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